I have recently moved into a flat that has plaster walls and coved ceilings (i.e. curving at the corners with moulding about 10 feet up on 13 foot ceilings). However, previous residents have repainted the walls and ceiling willy-nilly, and particularly the ceilings are in bad shape. Some of the paint is peeling, and it's about 15 or 20 layers thick. I'd like to do some repainting work, but I don't just want to paint over something that's this problematic.

Does anyone have any suggestions on whether or how I should remove the existing paint? Much of it can be scraped or chiseled off, but I'm leery of damaging the plaster underneath.

I'd definitely remove the existing layers of paint and then use a good primer before painting it again. Of course if you damage some of the plaster or some comes loose you'll have to repair it prior to painting but that should not be too difficult. Good luck!

The concern that I have is getting the paint off the ceiling in the first place. Am I stuck with sanding/chiseling/scaping, or is there a better way that I'm not recognizing to remove the paint? I know I can't use a commercial stripper, but I don't know if there's another way to go about this.